Abbotshall

Description of the parish in 1862

"Abbotshall parish lies on the Firth of Forth, bounded
by Kirkcaldy, Kinghorn, Auchtertool, Auchterderran and Dysart. It is
about 4 miles long by 2.5 miles broad. The great majority of the
inhabitants live in Linktown, a burgh of regality under Colonel
Ferguson of Raith. It is part of the parliamentary burgh of Kirkcaldy
and forms a continuation of it. The small village of Chapel is also in
the parish. The parish shares fully in the trade and manufactures of
Kirkcaldy. In the Linktown, there is a gas work, a pottery, a brick and
tile work, some hundred of hand looms, a sail canvas manufactory, a
linen bleachfield, a dye works, spinning mills and a number of corn
mills. In addition to the parish church, there are a UP Church and 2
Free Churches at Abbotshall and Invertiel." edited from Westwood's
Directory for the counties of Fife & Kinross
published 1862.

A very good description is to be found in the relevant chapter
in History of the County of
Fife: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time by John
M Leighton,
published 1840, online at Google
Books.

Old Kirkcaldy - Central, North & West
(Stenlake Publishing)
contains many photographs and full descriptions.

The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for Abbotshall
Churchyard are listed in "Fifeshire Monumental
Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 1 South east parishes" by
John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy
Society. ISBN 0901061948

There is 1 dissenting or Seceding chapel, now in connection
with the United Associate Synod.

Till lately there existed a remnant of that old sect of
Christians, the Cameronians, or Mountaineers as they were sometimes
termed. The barn in which they assembled is now occupied by a handful
of individuals who call themselves Christians, but what their
particular tenets are, the writer of this account has not been able to
learn. [A note at the end says that in 1836 the congregation is now
dispersed.]

There are some Baptists and some Independents, and also a
few Episcopalians who have their place of worship in Kirkcaldy.

A very few individuals attend a Relief meeting at Dysart,
and it is believed there are 2 or 3 individuals of the Roman Catholic
persuasion, natives of the sister isle.

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists
the parish
church and the Free Church.

Only the Abbotshall Parish Church and the Abbotshall Free
Church are considered here. Other churches are listed on
the Kirkcaldy
page.

The Parish Church (Established Church, Church of Scotland):

The original Old Parish Registers (of baptisms / births,
proclamations / marriages, and deaths / burials) of the Church of
Scotland, which cover the years up to 1854, are held in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh, and they can all be
consulted there at the National Records of Scotland. The baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages and deaths
/ burials indexes can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople
website.
Copies of the register entries may be purchased.

Parish reference number: 399

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates
(although there are gaps within
these ranges):

B. Only one entry Oct. 1662 -
Feb.
1664. Record, 1692 - 1705, tabulated. Irregular entries about 1763, and
11 leaves at end of Record for 1806, containing such entries, dated
1784 - 1808; they are also of frequent occurrence after 1807.M. From 1710 - 1744 the entries occur
among B. for same period. Separate Record of M., however, recommences
June 1741. Blank June 1762 - Jan. 1764. After Record for 1806, are four
leaves containing 'Clandestine Marriages', 1784 - 1807.
[Vol 399/1b contains handwriting samples on fly-leaf. Vol. 399/4
contains an index to B. 1841 - 1855 (surname followed by forename of
child), and an index to M. 1843 - 1855 (both parties' surnames,
bridegroom's first).]
[Subsequent to publication of the Detailed List,
the 4 volumes with Death records were added (399/5, 399/6, 399/7,
399/8).]

Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in
some local libraries and at LDS
Family Search Centres around the world. The indexes to baptisms /
births and proclamations / marriages can also be searched on the LDS
Family Search
website or on the IGI on microfiche in local libraries.

Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland
on 1st January 1855. Full information on the main Fife page.

Registration districts covering this parish:

Registration district

number

start date

end date

Abbotshall (landward)

399

1855

1874

Kirkcaldy and Abbotshall

442

1875

1919

Kirkcaldy

442

1920

1971

Kirkcaldy

421

1972

2002

Fife

421

2003

Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly
with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent
changes in registration districts. Some parts of Abbotshall parish were
in Kirkcaldy registration district until 1874, thereafter the whole of
Abbotshall is included in Kirkcaldy registration district.

The parish entry in Pigot's National Commercial
Directory for the whole of Scotland, 1837, is online at Google
Books.

Westwood's Parochial
Directory for the Counties of Fife and Kinross for 1862
and 1866
are online at Google Books. On the Records pages of
the Fife
Family History
Society
website there is a transcription of the 1862 edition.

On 15th May 1891, two detached parts of Abbotshall (both
surrounded by Kirkcaldy
parish) were transferred to Kirkcaldy parish. They comprised the
following subjects:
Smeaton, Smeaton Row and part of East Smeaton Farm.

In 1901, the parishes of Kirkcaldy, Dysart and Abbotshall, and
part of the parish of
Kinghorn, were united to form the parish of Kirkcaldy and Dysart.

Details of historic buildings and archaeological sites in this
parish held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical
Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh, are catalogued at ScotlandsPlaces.
In the results, click RCAHMS. Unfortunately, not all entries have
digital images.

The best collection of large scale local and estate
maps and plans is held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. The RCAHMS also has some plans. They
are catalogued on the ScotlandsPlaces
website. N.B. Only a few maps and plans are available as
digital images.

Andrew Campbell has produced Fife Deaths from
Newspapers 1822-1854 - a compilation of deaths recorded in
local newspapers. Copies of this index are held by the Fife libraries
and the Family History Societies.

Fife Deaths Abroad 1855-1900 - a
compilation of overseas deaths recorded in Fife newspapers - has been
produced by Andrew Campbell of Fife Family History Society. The Society
have re-published it in their Publications Series, 29.

The parish is included in Andrew Campbell's compilation of Fife
Shopkeepers and Traders 1820-1870 taken from newspapers and
directories. It is available in most Fife reference libraries, in the
libraries of the family history societies, and at the Manuscript
Department of the Special
Collections Department of St Andrews University Library. It
is also available as Fife Traders and Shopkeepers
on CD from Fife
Family
History Society.

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of
residents of Abbotshall may be
found in either the St Andrews Commissariot (CC20) or the Edinburgh
Commissariot (CC8)
records. From 1824 to 1960, commissary business was conducted
by the Sheriff Court
of Fife at Cupar (SC20). From 1960, it has been conducted at Kirkcaldy
(SC23) Sheriff
Court.

"Statistical accounts" giving fascinating insights into the
local topography and history, social and economic conditions, and even
the daily lives of people, were written by the parish ministers in the
1790s and the 1840s. For more information see the main Fife pages